Davis Cup: Lleyton Hewitt says pressure on German ace against Alex de Minaur

By Phil LUtton

1 February 2018 — 4:02pm

The rise and rise of Alex de Minaur shows no sign of slowing, with the Sydney teenager named to play alongside Nick Kyrgios in the singles as Australia begin their first-round Davis Cup tie against Germany on Friday.

The 18-year-old, a semi-finalist at the Brisbane International and finalist at the Sydney International, beat home-town cult figure John Millman and the consistent Matthew Ebden, who will play doubles with John Peers as Lleyton Hewitt's team try to conjure another strong performance on Brisbane's Pat Rafter Arena.

Rising star: Alex de Minaur has climbed to 139 in the world rankings.

Photo: AAP

At the start of the summer, only diehard tennis fans knew much of de Minaur, who splits his time between Sydney and Spain and has a passion for the NSW State of Origin rugby league team, whose "Blue Wall" mantra has become his own.

Now he will lead off against German top gun and world No.5 Alex Zverev, with Kyrgios drawn to meet Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday's opening day.

De Minaur was ranked 208 in the world at the start of the tennis summer. Now he has climbed to 139 and rates his latest achievement as the proudest in his fleeting career.

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"It's a great opportunity. I'm just going to go out there like it's just another match and leave it all out on the court. I'll put everything on the line," de Minaur said.

"I wasn't expecting any of this. It's really a dream come true. I don't think there's a greater honour then to represent your country, so I'm very proud and can't wait to get out there."

De Minaur's biggest scalp came in Brisbane, when he stunned Canada's former world No.3 Milos Raonic, only to be beaten by American Ryan Harrison one match away from the final.

Zverev, a tall power hitter, represents an almighty challenge for the rookie, but team captain Hewitt has had little hesitation throwing de Minaur in the deep end ahead of Millman, who was perhaps the safe option given his experience.

Hewitt, always looking for whatever advantage he can gain, suggested it was Zverev that should be feeling the pressure against de Minaur, who covers the court like a fox terrier and should ensure plenty of balls remain in play.

Zverev was the fourth seed in Melbourne and lost in the round of 32 to in-form South Korean Hyeon Chung in five sets.

"He's played some of his best tennis on this court [Pat Rafter Arena]. He went to Sydney and the calibre of players he played so far this year has been pretty impressive. He's got a big task, playing Alexander Zverev in the first match. But he's got nothing to lose," Hewitt said.

"His movement is really good out there. He makes a lot of balls. A lot of pressure and expectation is going to be on Zverev to go out there and get the job done. He's the red-hot favourite in that match. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles that."

Kyrgios, who won the Brisbane event before continuing his strong form at the Australian Open, said he felt refreshed after a short break and was ready to lead the Australians again.

Now the world No.14, Kyrgios brings an unshakable confidence that filters down through Hewitt's squad. When asked if they could win the Davis Cup – without Bernard Tomic, of course – his reply was: "Yes. I'm always confident. I feel good. I had one eye on this, when I was playing in Brisbane, I knew I'd be coming back for Davis Cup.

"It's one of my favourite weeks of the year, being with these guys. Very excited. I've played some big matches here. We all play great tennis on this court."

The Germans will be slight underdogs, but Hewitt remains wary of the influence of Boris Becker, with the German great now an adviser to his country's federation and travelling with the team.

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"[He brings] a lot, not just as a player but he coached Novak [Djokovic] as well. He knows about the pressure and demands of playing for your country in Davis Cup competition. It's just fantastic to have those kind of guys around this format because it shows how much it means. Boris is one of the all-time greats in the sport," Hewitt said.

Ebden and Peers will play Peter Gojowczyk and Tim Puetz on Saturday before Sunday's reverse singles rubbers, which pits two of the game's potential future grand slam champions against each other when Kyrgios meets Zverev.